Remembering the five best Test matches played between the two great rivals in the last ten years, with multiple close affairs enriching the India-Australia contest.
The famed India-Australia Test match rivalry for the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy has picked up steam over time. After initial one-sided bouts, there have been few of the most memorable Test series played between the two arch-rivals in this decade.
It has helped that India have finally begun excelling on Australian shores. After an unprecedented 2-1 Test series triumph Down Under in the 2018-19 season, the Indian team repeated the impressive scoreline on their following trip in 2020-21, leaving the Australians shell-shocked, especially as a number of Indian players stood injured.
That was a win for the ages, one that perhaps infused the greatest possible strength to the longstanding argument in favour of BGT expanding to five Tests. With the two cricket boards and broadcasters picking on the rising public interest, they have announced that the looming series in India will be the last edition of BGT that is played as a four-match contest.
The forthcoming Test series also attains importance beyond the fight for supremacy and the trophy: if India beat the tourists by a margin of two Tests or more, they make the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) in June, also potentially against Australia, the WTC 2021-23 table-toppers, who need a draw or a win somewhere across four Tests to book their tickets for The Oval.
An intensely fought BGT followed by a WTC final between the two most high-profile Test teams in the world will uplift interest in Test match cricket by two notches. But before we get there, here is a little rewind on some of the best Test matches played between India and Australia over the past ten years or so.
Adelaide 2014
Perhaps the start of Virat Kohli’s reign as a Test match skipper. Kohli wasn’t meant to do the job as early as Adelaide 2014 but an injury to MS Dhoni pushed the young vice-captain into the spotlight and it’s fair to say he only relished it. India’s stand-in captain made a questionable selection right at the start: leaving out R Ashwin and picking rookie wristspinner Karn Sharma on a dry pitch.
The move backfired but it showcased Kohli’s inclination towards the more attacking route, something that was seen in the way he encouraged his players to give it back to the Aussies in their own vein and respond to sledging with more sledging across five days. Despite India’s bowling woes, Kohli nearly took his team through with a great second-innings hundred until a late-order collapse rained on his parade and gave the Michael Clarke-led Australians a sigh of relief more than anything.
Bangalore 2017
40 runs. 40 more runs on Day 2 and things could’ve been different for Australia, who were already 1-0 up after winning in Pune and were batting to take the game away from India. In one of the most amazing Test matches ever played, India curtailed their deficit to 87 on a spiteful turner after managing only 189, when a lead of say 130 would’ve been curtains for them in the game and the series.
Matt Renshaw (60), Shaun (66) and Shaun Marsh (40) got starts but couldn’t make that century that would’ve given Australia a decisive advantage. It took another marathon spell of control and precision from Ishant Sharma to stall the game on the most intense Test match day one would witness, which allowed spin twins Ashwin and Jadeja to attack without feeling desperate for wickets. Jadeja picked-up a six-fer to keep the Australians within India’s reach.
Another impressive half-century from KL Rahul helped India overcome the deficit but in a topsy-turvey Test, the hosts found themselves precariously placed at 120/4. From there, middle-order stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara played one his very best knocks, a match and series-transforming 92. He stitched a partnership of 118 with half-centurion Ajinkya Rahane and together they helped India reach 274.
Despite a late collapse, it meant a target of 188 for the tourists, which was enough cushion for champion off-spinner Ashwin to showcase his mastery. His outstanding spell of 6/41 dismissed Australia for only 112 and gave India a comeback win for the ages.
Dharamshala 2017
Very underrated fixture in the India-Australia rivalry. It was the decider of a great series, with Dharamshala hosting its first-ever Test match. The Dhauladhar valley provided the most scenic setting for another memorable encounter. India took the punt and retained a five-bowler combination despite their batting struggling and it paid off, with their third spinner Kuldeep Yadav taking a four-fer in the first-innings.
Kuldeep’s incisive spell helped the ease the pressure on Ashwin-Jadeja duo, who were tiring at the heels of a rare 13-Test home season and ensured that Australia could muster only 300 despite another exceptional century from Steve Smith.
Half-centuries from Rahul and Pujara, backed up by stand-in captain Rahane’s critical 46 and thirties from Ashwin and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha took India close before some quick wickets left India reeling at 221/6. At that point, Australia looked set to reign supreme in the Test.
But Jadeja’s finest and most impactful batting feat turned the fixture on its head. The left-hander attacked from the word go and scored 63 of the most important runs hit throughout the series. His knock changed the momentum of the game, giving India a lead of 32 runs when they could’ve easily conceded one of 40 runs.
That laid the platform to one of Umesh Yadav’s most fiery new-ball spells, which reduced Australia to 3/31. From there, spin twins Ashwin and Jadeja worked their magic one last time for the season, taking three wickets apiece and bundling the tourists for 137, which meant a target of only 106. Rahul’s 51* and Rahane’s aggressive 38* took India through and sealed the series 2-1.
Sydney 2021
A draw that would’ve felt like a win for the Indians, who rallied on the shoulders of the injured duo of Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari to deny an incisive Australian attack on a fifth-day surface and kept the four-Test series alive and kicking at 1-1.
Needing an imposing 407, Indians found themselves 5/272 despite half-centuries from Rohit Sharma and Pujara and Rishabh Pant’s excellent 97. They needed to play out better part of the session and a half left for a draw at that stage and for the job at hand, had Ashwin dealing with a bad back and Vihari battling along with a torn hamstring.
Ashwin couldn’t stand on his feet the previous night but here he was not willing to give up the ground. The determined right-hander faced 128 balls for his unbeaten 39, while Vihari, who didn’t know when his next match will be, struck it out in the middle for 161 deliveries for his 23 not out.
The intensity of that whole passage when Australia gave it their all with the ball but ultimately bowed down to the resilience on display from the two Indian batters lit up the Test match and made it a memorable one, which could’ve easily gone the other way when India were all out for 244 in the first innings in response to the hosts’ 338 and it needed rearguard acts from Pujara and Pant, in particular, for them to claw back in the contest.
Gabba 2021
It all come down to the Gabba for the series finale at a venue where Australia hadn’t faced defeat in 31 previous summers. Heading into the game, India had lost their entire first-choice bowling attack to respective injuries. It meant an attack of Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, T Natarajan and Washington Sundar taking the field in Australia’s most successful den.
No one would’ve grudged India a defeat, knowing the circumstances they were posed with. But what followed left everyone shell-shocked and immensely proud of an Indian team that truly valued the rigours of the Test match game.
Despite Marnus Labuschagne’s superlative 108, India kept Australia down to 369 with Natarajan, Thakur and Washington taking three wickets apiece in an impressive bowling display by the rookies. India then found themselves 6/186, looking destined to concede a heavy lead and receive an irrevocable dent on their chances.
But the resilience of the side shone through one more time when Washington combined with Thakur to produce a match-transforming stand of 123 runs for the seventh wicket. Both the players in their own style and command scored critical sixties that eat into the potential Australian lead by taking India to 337, when they could’ve easily folded below 230.
Australia, however, still had the opportunity to take the game away from India, carrying a lead of 32 and knowing well that a chase of anything above 300 is going to be a strenuous task at the Gabba, a venue that offers steep bounce with late movement to the seamers. They did that, making 294 in the third essay despite Siraj and Thakur sharing nine wickets.
India required something that had never been achieved at the Gabbatoir. What followed was a remarkable example of team spirit and skill shining above all major obstacles as Pujara took blows after blows to his body in one of his most stoic efforts and produced a critical 56 off 211 balls.
He stayed and fought his way through a knock that gave young Shubman Gill the chance to ruffle up the Aussie seamers with an aggressive 91, a knock that was only bettered in its quality and impact by the amazing Pant, who played a legacy-defining knock of 89* to help India breach the fortress of Gabba with three wickets intact.
